For some of us that means tell yourself the truth. Don’t listen to the lies that are inside your head. Don’t believe the lies that were told to you as a child. You know they are not true, but for some reason they keep haunting you.

Sometimes, telling yourself the truth is painful. To honestly look at the choices you’ve made or what has been done to you is difficult. You might wonder why you do the things you do. Is it because of some unspoken lie you believe in your head? Ask yourself, “Who do YOU think you are?’ Then tell yourself the truth. You are precious. You are holy if you have submitted to Jesus. You are a child of God. You are redeemed. You are in-process.

Keep in mind, the truth is a beautiful thing. It is freedom: freedom from shame, from secrets, from fear.

For some of us it means to tell others the truth. Chances are, they already know! Yet, we need to say it out loud. We need to admit the things we have done. We need to own our choices! Maybe we need to sit in the truth of our choices for a minute.

We need to learn from our choices. The good choices, we need to repeat. The bad choices, we need to run from. How did we get there? What can we do to make sure we don’t repeat those bad choices again. The truth is we need to admit what we have done and ask forgiveness whenever we have hurt someone.

Jesus says, “I tell you the truth,” more than 30 times in the book of John. Do you want to know the truth? Do you want to live in the truth? Go to Jesus! Ask him. He will tell you the truth. He speaks it in His Word. He speaks it to our hearts. He is trustworthy! He will not be cruel or brutal. He will always be a gentleman when He speaks to you. But understand, He won’t sugarcoat the truth either.

Be prepared. The truth is not easy. Sometimes we have to face some ugly things about ourselves. Sometimes it is not fair. This world is not fair, but He is.

The truth is that life is hard, but God is good.

Not only do we need to speak the truth to ourselves and to others, but we need to speak it in love. Don’t be like that bitter relative at the annual family gathering who claims,

“I’m just truth telling!”

Speak the truth in love. Speak to yourself in an honest but loving manner. Speak to others in an honest and loving manner.

Life is short. There is not time to be wasted on dishonesty. Tell the people in your life that are precious to you that you love them. Tell the friends that you have who much you value them.

Let’s all tell the truth as we all are …just living the thing.